Meeting with Prisons Minister

28th February 2018

I was delighted to meet with the new Prisons Minister, Rory Stewart MP, yesterday to discuss conditions at HMP Wayland – one of the biggest employers in my constituency.

Having been aware of an outbreak of violent disorder at the prison almost two years ago, and having then met with a local prison officer who had been attacked whilst on duty at the prison, I took the opportunity to visit HMP Wayland back in December – and I was pleased to see then how the leadership and innovative work of the new Governor, Paul Cawkwell, and his outstanding staff was turning the prison around, and significantly bringing down the number of violent incidents.

More can be done to protect our prison officers, and help them carry out their duties, however – and so I therefore wanted to meet with the Prisons Minister to raise my constituent’s case and explore what can be learned from HMP Wayland. I look forward to continuing this discussion with him, and I believe we shall see further progress in our prison system (both locally and nationally) in the weeks and months ahead.